


Arrow: A Disappointed Mentor

by ArlyssTolero



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Gen, Post-Episode: s03e23 My Name is Oliver Queen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:13:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24363358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArlyssTolero/pseuds/ArlyssTolero
Summary: Talia al Ghul is displeased with the student she tracked down and trained throwing away the calling offered to him and decides to give him a short, brutal lesson in the truth of who he is and what he is capable of before issuing an ultimatum that will leave him with but one choice: to resurrect the Emerald Archer.
Relationships: Talia al Ghul & Oliver Queen
Comments: 19
Kudos: 25





	Arrow: A Disappointed Mentor

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Arrow.
> 
> A/N: Alright, so this story gets a bit heavy-handed in certain areas because I wrote this while I was pissed off at an Olicity fan who just HAD to use the term ‘Dead Bird fans’ in speaking to me on Reddit. I fucking HATE that meme and the GIF it spawned, with Laurel on the ground, arrow in her side, and ‘Happy Dead Bird Day’ written across it. So I really needed an outlet and since I already killed Felicity in “Arrow: Rebirth” and she’s a non-entity in “The Spectre”, well…

Talia al Ghul’s lip curled up in disgust as she observed the home where her former student had ‘retired’ from his work as the resident vigilante of what was now Star City from the bushes in the backyard. She had been here for hours already, having observed the home and the neighborhood and finding it all quite lacking in terms of security and awareness of one’s surroundings. She could have gone through every house on this street and killed every person in their sleep if she had been so inclined, but these people were innocents, and therefore to be protected.

Oliver and the woman who had ensnared him, however, were a different matter. Oliver had been her best pupil in decades, and certainly possessed many of the same qualities her Beloved had and did not possess Bruce’s fatal flaw: Oliver Queen was willing to _kill,_ if necessary, to safeguard those he cared about. He had proven this when he killed Talia’s father, Ra’s al Ghul, in single combat. But then he had _squandered_ that victory to play house with a woman who was neither compelling nor of worth in Talia’s eyes. There were women in his life who were infinitely more worthy of Oliver’s attentions, as they had not abandoned who they were at their core, nor had they attempted to change the man he was in his very bones as this _Felicity Smoak_ had.

Talia watched as Oliver left the house for his morning run. She had had her students watching him for days before her arrival, and not only had he never noticed her students, he had left the woman he claimed to love alone and undefended for at least an hour every morning to go on his morning run. About the only thing Talia agreed with was her student’s choice to keep in shape. But something had to be done about his disregard for the role he had been offered as well as his casting aside what he was meant to be. He was no more meant to be a domesticated lion than he was meant to be a gangster in Russia, and Talia would remind him of this fact.

Oliver left the house precisely at seven a.m., and Talia moved into the backyard and then picked the lock on the back door, letting herself into the house. Her lip curled again as she saw the light and airy decorations, trappings of a man who thought his time in the darkness was done. She would remind her student that the darkness was never gone, that you _had_ to give it a name or you could never truly be free to be yourself. Talia moved into the kitchen, hearing made-up curse words coming from the faux-blonde that was trying, and failing, to make an omelet. Talia snuck up behind Smoak and delivered a quick strike to the back of her head with the hilt of her dagger, knocking the woman out. Turning off the stove so as to not attract unwanted attention via the smoke detectors, Talia searched the linen closet and ripped a sheet into strips which she used to tie Smoak to a chair in the kitchen. She gagged the woman, if only because she had no desire to hear her grating voice beyond squeals of pain and terror, both of which would be elicited from Smoak once the guest of honor had arrived and been properly subdued. Talia moved to the window and sent a pre-arranged signal. Two of her students joined her inside, secreting themselves in the upstairs level until she had subdued Oliver, at which point they would take charge of him.

Oliver returned on schedule, walking into the kitchen with a relaxed smile on his face, not noticing Talia plastering herself to the wall to the left of the kitchen entrance. His eyes widened as he saw Felicity, her eyelids beginning to flutter open, bound to a chair and gagged. Before he could move forward to help his distraction, however, Talia struck, delivering a vicious kick to the back of his knee joint, dislocating it. Oliver grunted in pain, but Talia wasn’t finished. She caught his clumsy attempt at a counterattack and broke his arm before delivering rapid strikes to his ribs, feeling some satisfaction at feeling a few of them shift. She let him fall to one knee, his other leg twisted at an odd angle from the knee down. She delivered a vicious backhand to his face as her other students entered.

Oliver, blinking rapidly in an effort to fight the dizziness, focused on his attacker, and his blue eyes widened. “Talia?” he choked out in disbelief.

“Yes, Oliver,” Talia replied softly. “You have grown lax, allowed your skills to atrophy. The man who was trained to replace my father would have been able to counter my attacks and put me on the defensive. But that is not who kneels before me. No, the one who kneels before me is a mewling cur who thinks that because he has defeated one of the most dangerous men in the world that the darkness within himself is cleansed. You are a far cry from the man I trained in Russia, Oliver Queen; you have allowed yourself to falter, and I do not enjoy seeing my hard work go to waste, especially for a petty _distraction_ with no substance.”

“What are you _talking_ about?” Oliver ground out as Talia’s students held him down, the one holding his broken arm twisting it silently to elicit a grunt of pain.

“I never told you my full name, did I?” Talia said softly, cupping Oliver’s chin and forcing him to look her in the eyes. He shook his head slightly, the only thing he could do. “It’s Talia _al Ghul_. My father, Ra’s al Ghul, trained you to be his Heir, to carry on the mission of the League of Assassins, a greater calling than even I pictured for you when I trained you in Russia. But you squandered this gift; you claimed the power of the Demon’s Head, only to turn leadership of the League over to Malcolm Merlyn, who uses the League not for it’s true purpose, but as his own personal guard force against myself, my siblings, and Damien Darhk. He has _perverted_ the League, and the guilt for this crime is upon your shoulders, Oliver Queen. You have betrayed your training, your mission, the very reason for your continued existence! And for what? For _this_?” she cast a hand back at Felicity, who was watching them with confusion and terror.

“I love her,” Oliver said, and Talia backhanded him again, earning a yelp of indignation from Felicity, who quieted when Talia turned her glower on her. Talia turned back to her student.

“You _love_ her,” Talia said softly. “You lie, Oliver. Those you love, you push away in order to protect them. You have done this with your sister, your mother, the woman you truly love, even your apprentice who even now lives in exile for your sake. You and I know the truth. This woman is not your love; she is your distraction, not only for yourself, but for all those who would seek out the ones you care about to strike against. You have used her as a decoy for Slade Wilson and even for my father. He knew she was not your love; it is why he allowed her to go to you in Nanda Parbat. He knew it would destroy _her_ to have you but not forever, and it would destroy you to take to bed a woman who is not your love.”

“How do you know what happened in Nanda Parbat?” Oliver bit out.

“Because I am the daughter of the Demon, Oliver, and I have agents within the League even now, giving me all of the information that I could possibly need to destroy Malcolm Merlyn and his entire bloodline, including your half-sister.” Oliver jerked at that, struggling to strike at Talia, and she laughed. “And now you prove my point for me, Oliver. I have Miss Smoak bound, gagged, and at my mercy, and yet aside from your initial attempt to free her, you’ve not moved to bring us down. But one mention of your sister, and the love of a brother fills your veins, the fury of an older sibling wishing to protect the younger! Your love for her drives you even now to struggle against us, while you showed none of this fire with your so-called love on the line.” Talia turned to the bound and gagged Felicity, a cruel smirk crawling up her features. “Did you truly think one such as you could be anything more than a distraction? He prefers _stronger_ women.” Felicity made a muffled comment. Talia’s lips twitched in cruel amusement at the woman’s ignorant defiance before turning back to Oliver.

“What is it you want, Talia?” Oliver asked, knowing his former teacher wouldn’t be here without a reason.

“I _want_ the Usurper brought low, his severed head at my feet,” Talia replied. “I want to see the student I put so much time and effort into tracking down and training reach his potential. I want to see you, if not as the world’s guardian in the shadows then as your city’s guardian archer. But I know you well enough to know you need incentive. So I shall give it to you.” Talia turned, marched to Felicity, and without a moment of hesitation unsheathed her sword and decapitated the woman. Felicity’s head fell off the stump of her neck in a shower of gore and rolled across the kitchen floor, coming to a stop next to the waste basket full of failed omelets. Oliver let out a cry of denial, but Talia was back in front of him within seconds, her blade held under his chin.

“Listen closely, Oliver, for I shall speak this but once,” Talia said softly, and Oliver looked up to meet her gaze, grief and fury warring for dominance in his eyes. “I know that killing Miss Smoak will not truly anger you. As I have said, she was little more than a distraction, and you can always find another of those for your adversaries to chase. Recently, a man came into my service, the man who now holds your broken arm. You killed his father nearly three years ago, and he wants revenge. I am going to train this man to destroy you and everything that you hold dear. In one year, I will unleash him upon your city. If you do not wish to see your allies, your sister, and your true love _burn_ along with your precious city, you will dig deep inside of this soft shell you have become, and bring the Emerald Archer _back_ to life.” Talia delivered a knockout blow to Oliver and her students let him fall to the ground. “We are finished here,” Talia said coolly. “It is now in his hands.” The assassins left the house, and later phoned in an anonymous tip.

After he was cleared of any wrongdoing in his girlfriend’s death and he had healed from his injuries, Oliver Queen returned to Star City and took up the mantle of Green Arrow, once more learning to channel his darkness as he fought alongside Speedy, Black Canary, and Spartan against the forces of H.I.V.E. Spartan would eventually fall to the machinations of H.I.V.E.’s leader, Damien Darhk, and Green Arrow would kill both Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn, who had aligned with H.I.V.E., cementing himself as the premier warrior in the entire world. When Talia’s agent of chaos, who called himself Prometheus, arrived in Star City to begin his mission, he found a united Team Arrow that wasn’t afraid to call on their closest allies to fight against the threat of Talia’s League of Shadows, culminating in a battle on Lian Yu where heroes and villains were forged into the legends that they were intended to be.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this one-shot, heavy-handed as it might have been. The ironic thing is that I considered doing a lot more to Felicity but decided that it wouldn’t fit with the message Talia was telegraphing to Oliver in her display. So she gets an ignominious death in this story, just as she did in “Rebirth”.


End file.
